Aluminum giant Rusal share price halved after United States sanctions

Aluminium giant Rusal (0486.HK), which Deripaska also controls, saw half its value wiped out in overnight trading in Hong Kong.

Shares in Deripaska's London-listed EN+ Group (ENPLq), an aluminium and power producer, fell 34% to $6.35.

The Treasury Department is implementing sanctions authorized by Congress a year ago to punish Russian Federation for interfering in the 2016 election.

The Kremlin slammed the sanctions. "The situation is pretty egregious from the point of view of legality, it tramples on all kinds of norms, and so a thorough analysis is necessary", he said. The Russian individuals and companies were targeted for profiting from a Russian state engaged in "malign activities" around the world. Of these, Rusal may be the most important one as it accounts for about 17% of supply outside of China, according to Harbor Intelligence, whose managing director, Jorge Vazquez said sanctions could going to create chaos in the short term.

"The company's initial assessment is that it is highly likely that the impact may be materially adverse to the business and prospects of the group", the company said in a filing to the Hong Kong bourse today. "If end-users make products that sell to the USA, they might not want to buy Russian aluminium".

"The US list may not be the final list and it feels like there will be more sanctions, so investors do not know which, if any, stocks to hold", said John Meyer, mining analyst at SP Angel.

The sanctions could also threaten a tentative revival in Russia's economy, which had only just started to recover from those imposed in response to its annexation of Crimea in 2014.

A Hong Kong-based equity sales director said today the stock prices are under pressure because the sanctions require investors subject to U.S. jurisdiction to ditch the stocks within a month.

Jasper Lawler, head of research at London Capital Group, added: "The sanctions make it nearly impossible for these Russian firms and their billionaire owners to transact in United States dollars, the main currency used in global trade and the standard denomination for commodities".

The sanctions, the latest U.S. effort to punish Moscow for "malign activity around the globe", also affect 17 senior Russian government officials.